Plea against national awardees in commercials

A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court questioning whether national award recipients, like Sachin Tendulkar, can be allowed to participate in private advertisements for commercial gains

New Delhi: A plea has been moved in the Delhi High Court questioning whether national award recipients, like Sachin Tendulkar, can be allowed to participate in private advertisements for commercial gains.

The petition, challenging a single judge order declining to entertain the issue, came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V K Rao, which on Tuesday indicated that it was not inclined to hear the matter.

Justice Menon said a bench headed by him in the Madhya Pradesh High Court had dismissed a similar plea against Tendulkar, who was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2014, and the decision was later upheld by the Supreme Court.

He asked the lawyers for the central government to examine the apex court judgment in the other matter and ascertain whether it would be applicable in the present case as well.

The petitioner,Kamal Dey, has challenged the single judge’s December 11, 2018 order dismissing his plea which had wanted a bar on national award recipients taking part in commercial advertisements for personal gain.